Gangways



Jan. 5, 1 965 KqN. HOPKINS 3,163,873-

' Y GANGWAYS Filed March 21, 1961 SSheets-Sheet 1 lNVENTOR KENNETHWILUAM HOPKINS 44,511 JW/az ATTORNEYS Jan; 5, 1965 K. W.'HOPKINS3,163,373

, GANGIAYS' I Filed larch 21. 1961 s Sheets-Shet 2 INVENTOR W M /Z1ATTORN EYS KENNETH WILLIAM HOPKINS Jan. 5, 1965 K; w. HOPKINS 3,163,373

GANGWAYS Filed March 21. 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 3,

32 IO I l INVENTOR KENNETH WILLIAM HOPKINS- ATTORNEYS:

United States Patent 3,163,873 GANGWAYS Kenneth Hopkins, London,England, assignor to B? Tanker Company Limited, London, England, a

'Eritish joint-stock corporation Filed Mar. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 97,363

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 30, 1%0,

3 Claims. (Cl. 14-71) This invention relates to gangways and to theprovision of a convenient means of access to and from ships.

In the past, means of access to and from ships has been provided by agangway one end of which rests on a quay and the other end of whichrests on the ship or ships rail; these gangways are not particularlyconvenient for use with ships such as the larger modern oil tankers.These ships are not only very large but they are unloaded with greatrapidity so that they are subject to large changes of level relative tothe quay. Thus when a tanker ties up to unload its deck may be levelwith the quay and it will only require a short gangway. When unloadedthe deck of the tanker may be much above the quay and it will require along gangway. It may happen that the width of the quay does not allowthe use of a gangway long enough to give a reasonable angle for boardingor leaving the ship.

According to a first embodiment of the invention a means of access to afirst location from a second location, and vice versa, comprises agangway capable of attachment at or near one of its ends to the firstlocation, and supportable by the second location in such a manner thatat least a part, but preferably the whole, of the gangway is able tomove longitudinally, such movement causing an opposite motion of acounterbalance whereby substantially the whole weight of the gangway istaken by the second location. single segment only.

According to a second embodiment of the invention a means of access to afirst location from a second location, and vice versa, comprises agangway capable of attachment at or near one of its ends to the firstlocation and supportable by the-second location in such a manner that itis able to rotate either about a horizontal axis perpendicular to thegangway or about both said horizontal axis and a vertical axis, acounterbalance being provided for the gangway sothat the gangway issubstantially balanced about the said horizontal axis so thatsubstantially the whole weight of the gangway is taken by the secondlocation.

Desirably, in a means of access according to the invention, the gangwayis able to move longitudinally as hereinbefore described and is alsoable to rotate as hereinbefore described. Conveniently the samecounterbalance may be used to balance both the rotation about thehorizontm axis and the longitudinal motion.

When the first location is a ship the gangway may conveniently beattached to the ships rail;

In a preferred embodiment of the invention a means of access to a shipfrom a quay to which the ship is moored comprises a gangway capable ofattachment at or near one of its ends to the ship, preferably to theships rail, said gangway' being supportable above the quay in such amanner that it is able to rotate about both a vertical axis and ahorizontal axis perpendicular to the gangway, a counterbalance for thegangway being provided so that the gangway is balanced about saidhorizontal axis wherebysubstantially the Whole of the weight of the gangwayis taken by the quay, the mounting of the gangway being such that thegangway is able to move longitudinally, such longitudinal movementcausing an Preferably the gangway consists of a I "ice opposite movementof a counterbalance so that the gangway remains balanced about saidhorizontal axis and substantially the whole of the weight of the gangwayremains taken by the quay.

The means provided for moving the counterbalance may also be used toimpart a longitudinal movement to the gangway to facilitate itsattachment to the ship.

Conveniently the attachment of the gangway to the I ship isautomatically broken if the gangway fouls the quay.

Access to the gangway may be provided by means of a horizontal platformsecured alongside the gan gway at its point of balance, or as nearthereto as convenient. Access from the quay to the platform isconveniently provided by means of a staircase secured relative to theplatform.

Preferably the gangway is mounted on a carriage so as to enable themeans of access to be moved from one part of the quay to another. Thecarriage may be provided with jacks to enable the carriage to bestabilised during use. The gangway may be provided with steps whichremain horizontal whatever the inclination of the gangway.

A particular embodiment of the invention willnow be described withreference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a side view of a means of access according to theinvention.

FTGURE 2 shows an end view of a means of access according to theinvention.

FIGURE 3 shows an arrangement of safety rails.

FlGURE 4 shows a suitable counter-balance mechanism for the means ofaccess shown in the other figures.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES l and 2 a gang- I way it which may beattached to a ship at or near its end 18, is supported in agangway-holder 11, which also carries a counterbalance 12, by means ofpairs of rollers 21. (Only one pair of these rollers is shown in FlGURE2 but in practice several such pairs would-be fitted.) This method ofsupporting the gangway ll allows it to move longitudinally; lateralmotion -is preventedby means of. roller guides 22 and any tendency ofthe gangwaylil to lift from the gangway-holder 11 is overcome'by castors23. (FIGURES l and 2 show suitable positions for the roller guides 22and the castors 23 but do not indicate the numbers to be fitted.)

of rollers 24.

The gangwayholder 11 is pivotally attached at 13 to way/ gaugway-holder/counterbalance assembly is situated substantially on the horizontal axisof rotation situated at 13. A longitudinal motion of the gangway 10causes an, opposite motion of the counterbalance 12, so that whateverthe longitudinal (or rotational) motion of the gangway til the centre ofgravity of the said assembly remains situated on said horizontal axis. Asuitable counterbalance mechanism is shown in FlGURE 4; the parts ofthis mechanism are also shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

The turn-table 14 is mounted on an undercarriage 15 which is providedwith wheeled castors 16 to enable the whole assembly to be moved fromone part of the jetty to another. The undercarriage 15 is also providedwith jacks 17 to enable the wheeled castors 16 to be lifted clear of thesurface on which the means of access stands while it is in use.

Access to the gangway is via staircase 19 which. leads ontoa platform29. The staircase 19 and platform 20 are attached to the turntable 14.

safetyrrails are attached to the platform 29, the gangway-holder l1 andthe gangway 10 as shown in FIGURE 7 Patented Jan. 5, 1965 t Thecounterbalance :12 is similarly supported in the gangway holder '11 .bymeans 3. Thus the gangway It is provided with a safety-rail 3ilalong itsentire length on the side away from the platform 23. A similar safetyrail cannot be provided on the sideof the gangway adjacent to theplatform as this would prevent access from the'platform 2% to thegangway It On this side of the gangway It a safety rail 31 1's onlyprovided adjacent to the end 13, which may be attached to the ship. Onthe portion of the gangway V 10 adjacent to the. platform 28 the safetyrail 32 is'attached to the gangway-holder 11. Access to the unusedportion of the gangway 33 is prevented by a rail 34 which extends acrossthe gangway 1t) and is mounted on the gangway-holder 11. The staircase19 and the platform 20 are also, provided with safety rails. Y

The counterbalance mechanism shown inPEGUREv 4 consists of arack-and-pinion mechanism which comprises a rack 40 attached to thegangway (not shown in FY"- URE 4) and a rack 41 attached to thecounterbalance 12. Conveniently the means of attachment 42 alsoprovidesthe support for the counterbalance 12. Both the racks 40 and 41 engagewith a single pinion "t3 mounted on the gangway-holder (not shown inFIGURE 4). The rack-and-pinion mechanism may comprise a singleassemblage consisting of the pinion 43 and the racks 40 and 41'. Howeverit may comprise several such assemblages and a preferred number of theseassemblages is two. It will be apparent that a motion of the'gangway 10towards theright will cause a similar motion of the counterbalancetowards the left. If the total mass of the counterbalance system isequal to the total mass of the gangway system there will be no resultantmotion ofthe centre of gravity of the combined system. Therefore,the'gang- Way-holder (not shown in FIGURE 4) may be pivoted about ahorizontal axis passing through this fixed centre of gravity and thegangway will remain balanced whatever movement it makes. a

As the gangway is able. to rotate about a horizontal axis as well asbeing able to move longitudinally and the gangway carriage can rotateabout a vertical axis, the

end of the gangwayattaehed'to the ship is able to make whatever movementis required to follow the ship. As the centre of gravity does not movethe ship does not have to' do any work'against gravity. Thus the onlyforces the ship is required to apply to the gangway are those needed tocause (and to st0p) motion in the mechanism, to provide.additionalsupport when the gangwayis carrying a load and to overcomeimperfections inthe balancing mechanism. Thus the ship does not have tosupport the gangway and this is convenient when the gangway is to be atvtached to the ships rail.

Any convenient mass may be chosen for the counterbalance provided asuitable gear-ratio is chosen for-the rack-and-pinion mechanism. Thus ifthe counterbalance has twice the mass of the gangway it is necessary tomove the counterbalance halt the distance of the gangway. In therack-and-pinion mechanism described with reference to FIGURE 4 this maybe achieved by the use of pairs of pinions, the ones engaging with theracks 41 having half the radii of the ones engaging with racks 4-9,insteadof the single pinions 43.

The gangway may be moved longitudinally to facili-- tate attachment to aship by rotation of the pinion "43. .To do this the pinion 43'isconnected to a first crown wheel .44 which may be engaged with asecond crown wheel 45. The second crown wheel 45 is mounted on the topof a vertical axle, 46 which is supported by a bearing 51 attached tothe undercarriage (not shown in FIGURE ,4) by means of a screw thread52. The axle 46 is providedwith a driving wheel 47 which engages with aworm drive 48. The worm-drive148 may be turned by hand using'the handle49. Alternativelythe pinion 43'may be rotated directly, e.g. by applyinga handle to its axle. If desired a motor may be used to rotate thepinion.

a The axle 46-is supported at its lower end Si by thebearing 51 whichcanbe raised and lowered upon the way to be moved longitudinally byrotation of the handle The parts shown in FIGURE 4 are also shown inFIG- URES 1 and 2.

I claim; V 1. A means of access providing communication between a firstlocation and a second location, said first loca tion being movable inany direction relative to said second location, said means of accesscomprising, in combination:

a single segment gangway having a platform, said gang- 7 way adapted atits one end to be removably secured to said first location;

a gangway holder;

said gangway slidably movable on and supported by said gangway holder;

a movable undercarriage adapted to be located on said second locationand removably secured thereto;

a turntable supported by said undercarriage and rotatable thereon'abouta vertical axis;

said 'gangway holder pivotally supported on said turntable for movementabout ahorizontal axis;

said gangway longitudinally slidable with respect to its length in saidgangway holder to span the distance between said first'and secondlocations as said locations move with respect to each other from theirrespective positions at the time the said gangway was secured to saidfirst location;

counterbalance means supported on said gangway holder, a mechanicalinterlinkage between said counterbalance means and said gangway suchthat 'said counterbalance means is responsive to changes in saidgangway: position, said interlinkage consisting of doubleracksoperatively associated with a pinion, one of said racks connectedto the underside of the gangway and the other of said racks connected tothe counterbalance means whereby movement of the gangway is transmittedto the counterbalance means, and the appropriate opposite counterbalanceforces are automatically applied to counterbalance the position of theg'angway and maintain the center of gravity of said gangway, gangwayholder, and counterbalance means at the said horizontal axis at alltimes and whereby substantially the whole weight of the means of accessis taken by the second location.

2. A means of access according to claim 1, which is provided with meansfor driving the pinion of the rackand-pinion mechanism whereby thegangway may be moved longitudinally and its attachment to the firstloca- 3. A means of access according to claim 1, in which theundercarriage is provided with wheeled castors whereby said means ofaccessmay'be moved from one part of the second location to; another.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 369,423 9/87Bagley .14-71 X 848,862 4/07 Sterm 14-71 849,222 "4707' Fleming 14 43 X1,106,074 8/14 Bidlake 14-72 1,960,355 5/34 Tamini 14-71 X 2,478,1778/49 Beuteletal. 14 71 2,803,841 8/57 Wellens 14-71 5/62 Smith 14-72 75JACOB L. NACKENOFE'Primary Examiner;

1. A MEANS OF ACCESS PROVIDING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN A FIRST LOCATIONAND A SECOND LOCATION, SAID FIRST LOCATION BEING MOVABLE IN ANYDIRECTION RELATIVE TO SAID SECOND LOCATION, SAID MEANS OF ACCESSCOMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A SINGLE SEGMENT GANGWAY HAVING A PLATFORM,SAID GANGWAY ADAPTED AT ITS ONE END TO BE REMOVABLY SECURED TO SAIDFIRST LOCATION; A GANGWAY HOLDER; SAID GANGWAY SLIDABLY MOVABLE ON ANDSUPPORTED BY SAID GANGWAY HOLDER; A MOVABLE UNDERCARRIAGE ADAPTED TO BELOCATED ON SAID SECOND LOCATION AND REMOVABLY SECURED THERETO; ATURNTABLE SUPPORTED BY SAID UNDERCARRIAGE AND ROTATABLE THEREON ABOUT AVERTICAL AXIS; SAID GANGWAY HOLDER PIVOTALLY SUPPOTED ON SAID TURNTABLEFOR MOVEMENT ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS; SAID GANGWAY LONGITUDINALLYSLIDABLE WITH RESPECT TO ITS LENGTH IN SAID GANGWAY HOLDER TO SPAN THEDISTANCE BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND LOCATIONS AS SAID LOCATIONS MOVEWITH RESPECT TO EACH OTHER FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE POSITIONS AT THE TIMETHE SAID GANGWAY WAS SECURED TO SAID FIRST LOCATION; COUNTERBALANCEMEANS SUPPORTED ON SAID GANGWAY HOLDER, A MECHANICAL INTERLINKAGEBETWEEN SAID COUNTERBALANCE MEANS AND SAID GANGWAY SUCH THAT SAIDCOUNTERBALANCE MEANS IS RESPONSIVE TO CHANGES IN SAID GANGWAY POSITION,SAID INTERLINKAGE CONSISTING OF DOUBLE RACKS OPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITHA PINION, ONE OF SAID RACKS CONNECTED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF THE GANGWAYAND THE OTHER OF SAID RACKS CONNECTED TO THE COUNTERBALANCE MEANSWHEREBY MOVEMENT OF THE GANGWAY IS TRANSMITTED TO THE COUNTERBALANCEMEANS, AND THE APPROPRIATE OPPOSITE COUNTERBALANCE FORCES AREAUTOMATICALLY APPLIED TO COUNTERBALANCE THE POSITION OF THE GANGWAY ANDMAINTAIN THE CENTER OF GRAVITY OF SAID GANGWAY, GANGWAY HOLDER, ANDCOUNTERBALANCE MEANS AT THE SAID HORIZONTAL AXIS AT ALL TIMES ANDWHEREBY SUBSTANTIALLY THE WHOLE WEIGHT OF THE MEANS OF ACCESS IS TAKENBY THE SECOND LOCATION.